Comments on: Here’s how I set up my financial accounts http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/heres-how-i-set-up-my-financial-accounts/ Personal finance blog for college students, recent graduates and everyone else -- including entrepreneurship -- for getting rich. Featured in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:46:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Christy O'Neal http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/heres-how-i-set-up-my-financial-accounts/#comment-89435 Christy O'Neal Tue, 17 Feb 2009 22:23:49 +0000 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/heres-how-i-set-up-my-financial-accounts#comment-89435 I work for a Credit Union and we have a high interest checking account that pays 5.25% APY and refunds up to $25 in ATM fee refunds if members do three small things that we ask. These types of checking accounts can be great b/c you are earning a high interest rate and usually the items that you are asked to complete each month you are doing already, i.e. e-Statements, direct deposit/ach debit, and debit card purchases. Visit www.checkingfinder.com to find a financial instituion near you that offers a Reward Checking account. I love that each month I can earn from a free cup of coffee to a tank of gas, just for having a checking account. I work for a Credit Union and we have a high interest checking account that pays 5.25% APY and refunds up to $25 in ATM fee refunds if members do three small things that we ask.
These types of checking accounts can be great b/c you are earning a high interest rate and usually the items that you are asked to complete each month you are doing already, i.e. e-Statements, direct deposit/ach debit, and debit card purchases.
Visit http://www.checkingfinder.com to find a financial instituion near you that offers a Reward Checking account. I love that each month I can earn from a free cup of coffee to a tank of gas, just for having a checking account.

]]> By: shannon http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/heres-how-i-set-up-my-financial-accounts/#comment-68202 shannon Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:12:05 +0000 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/heres-how-i-set-up-my-financial-accounts#comment-68202 Steve, What Quicken program do you have that allows this? I've had a heck of a time trying to get this plan in action. thanks for your help! Steve,

What Quicken program do you have that allows this? I’ve had a heck of a time trying to get this plan in action.

thanks for your help!

]]> By: Steve http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/heres-how-i-set-up-my-financial-accounts/#comment-65738 Steve Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:33:17 +0000 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/heres-how-i-set-up-my-financial-accounts#comment-65738 Here Is What I Do. I have an ING savings acocunt where almost all of my paycheck is direct deposited... A small allowance is direct deposited into my BOA account each week for me.To get that money each week all it takes is a simple trip to the ATM machine. That small amount is for me.. coffee, donuts, newspaper, etc. ALL of my purchases like gasoline, grocerys, dry cleaning, etc, are charged to my Chase Freedom Card which I pay in full every month. Now about the monies direct deposited to INC savings. I sub divide my ING savings account into little accounts via my Quicken program. For example I have a RENT HOLD ACCOUNT, CAR GAS HOLD ACCOUNT, INSURANCE HOLD ACCOUNT, DISCOVER CHARGE CARD HOLD ACCOUNT, PHONE BILL HOLD ACCOUNT, RENT HOLD, GROCERY HOLD, and so on. Quicken automatically adds my deposits and transfers enough money to each of the sub accounts. In other words each week 1/4 of my rent goes into my rent hold account, 1 /4 of my monthly typical gasoline bill goes into my GAS HOLD ACCOUNT, and the same for the others. What is left over goes into a "MY MONEY ACCOUNT' where I can save it for big purchases or spent for whatever I want. An example to show how the Chase Card works... Everytime I charge something... lets make it grocerys... I transfer the amount charged from my GROCERY HOLD ACCOUNT to CHASE FREEDOM HOLD. If I buy gas I move the money spent from GAS HOLD to CHASE HOLD. The amount in the CHASE HOLD is always the same amount as in the CHASE CHARGE ACCOUNT. The actual Charge account being a debit and the CHASE HOLD being a plus amount. Everything is deposited and withdrawn to/from the MAIN ING INTEREST ACCOUNT. This makes for only 1 account to reconcile. About the middle of the month I get all my bills together and see how much I need to transfer from each account to totally pay all my outstanding bills. If my Chase Freedom balance was $1,000 I transfer $1000 from my CHASE HOLD into my ING MAIN ACCOUNT. (Thats the name for the sub account where all the deposits and actual withdrawals come from. Since the ING savings account is limited to the number of withdrawals you can make I opened a second INC account.... A checking... Umlimited withdrawals and FREE BILL PAYING. Lets say all my monthly bills added up are $4,000.. I transfer $4,000 from my ING MAIN savings account to my ING checking account. Then I AUTOPAY all my bills through the checking acocunt. You get less interest in the checking account than in the savings account. I only keep enough in the ING checking account to cover my bills. After they are all paid there is usually only a few dollars in there. Then there are the little trick I can do.... On the months that have 5 pay periods.. I get most of that money free and clear... Only the things I buy every week like grocerys and gas, get deducted. So I get an extra "free" windfall from that. If I ever run out of cash the middle of the week and my BOA account is empty I take a trip to the grocery store and buy a "few things"... Charge it with my Discover card and get up to $40 cash back.. (no interest on the cash advance). Works for me. I do not have one bill that I cannot autopay with ING.. even my landlord is paid with an ELECTRIC CHECK. Whatever bills I can pay with my Chase Freedom I do as I get the 1% to 3% rebate. I have been doing this for 5 or so years and never had a problem. It might seem a little difficult.. it is not. HAVE A NICE DAY ! Here Is What I Do.

I have an ING savings acocunt where almost all of my paycheck is direct deposited… A small allowance is direct deposited into my BOA account each week for me.To get that money each week all it takes is a simple trip to the ATM machine. That small amount is for me.. coffee, donuts, newspaper, etc. ALL of my purchases like gasoline, grocerys, dry cleaning, etc, are charged to my Chase Freedom Card which I pay in full every month.

Now about the monies direct deposited to INC savings. I sub divide my ING savings account into little accounts via my Quicken program. For example I have a RENT HOLD ACCOUNT, CAR GAS HOLD ACCOUNT, INSURANCE HOLD ACCOUNT, DISCOVER CHARGE CARD HOLD ACCOUNT, PHONE BILL HOLD ACCOUNT, RENT HOLD, GROCERY HOLD, and so on. Quicken automatically adds my deposits and transfers enough money to each of the sub accounts. In other words each week 1/4 of my rent goes into my rent hold account, 1 /4 of my monthly typical gasoline bill goes into my GAS HOLD ACCOUNT, and the same for the others. What is left over goes into a “MY MONEY ACCOUNT’ where I can save it for big purchases or spent for whatever I want. An example to show how the Chase Card works… Everytime I charge something… lets make it grocerys… I transfer the amount charged from my GROCERY HOLD ACCOUNT to CHASE FREEDOM HOLD. If I buy gas I move the money spent from GAS HOLD to CHASE HOLD. The amount in the CHASE HOLD is always the same amount as in the CHASE CHARGE ACCOUNT. The actual Charge account being a debit and the CHASE HOLD being a plus amount.

Everything is deposited and withdrawn to/from the MAIN ING INTEREST ACCOUNT. This makes for only 1 account to reconcile.

About the middle of the month I get all my bills together and see how much I need to transfer from each account to totally pay all my outstanding bills. If my Chase Freedom balance was $1,000 I transfer $1000 from my CHASE HOLD into my ING MAIN ACCOUNT. (Thats the name for the sub account where all the deposits and actual withdrawals come from. Since the ING savings account is limited to the number of withdrawals you can make I opened a second INC account…. A checking… Umlimited withdrawals and FREE BILL PAYING. Lets say all my monthly bills added up are $4,000.. I transfer $4,000 from my ING MAIN savings account to my ING checking account. Then I AUTOPAY all my bills through the checking acocunt. You get less interest in the checking account than in the savings account. I only keep enough in the ING checking account to cover my bills. After they are all paid there is usually only a few dollars in there.

Then there are the little trick I can do…. On the months that have 5 pay periods.. I get most of that money free and clear… Only the things I buy every week like grocerys and gas, get deducted. So I get an extra “free” windfall from that.

If I ever run out of cash the middle of the week and my BOA account is empty I take a trip to the grocery store and buy a “few things”… Charge it with my Discover card and get up to $40 cash back.. (no interest on the cash advance).

Works for me. I do not have one bill that I cannot autopay with ING.. even my landlord is paid with an ELECTRIC CHECK. Whatever bills I can pay with my Chase Freedom I do as I get the 1% to 3% rebate.

I have been doing this for 5 or so years and never had a problem. It might seem a little difficult.. it is not.

HAVE A NICE DAY !

]]> By: Sterlzs http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/heres-how-i-set-up-my-financial-accounts/#comment-65660 Sterlzs Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:51:40 +0000 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/heres-how-i-set-up-my-financial-accounts#comment-65660 I have quick question. Do you recommend using your credit card to charge your monthly expenses such as your electric bill, phone bill, association fees, and etc or should you pay those expenses directly from your checking account? Thanks... I love the site. I have quick question. Do you recommend using your credit card to charge your monthly expenses such as your electric bill, phone bill, association fees, and etc or should you pay those expenses directly from your checking account?

Thanks… I love the site.

]]> By: vimax http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/heres-how-i-set-up-my-financial-accounts/#comment-51179 vimax Tue, 05 Feb 2008 21:40:00 +0000 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/heres-how-i-set-up-my-financial-accounts#comment-51179 Thanks for the great advice to have several accounts. I might be putting this tip to great use in the near future... Thanks again Thanks for the great advice to have several accounts. I might be putting this tip to great use in the near future… Thanks again

]]> By: Karen http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/heres-how-i-set-up-my-financial-accounts/#comment-37726 Karen Wed, 17 Oct 2007 05:31:49 +0000 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/heres-how-i-set-up-my-financial-accounts#comment-37726 It's a good idea to have several accounts. I consider it to be a fair way to save money for those who need it. May be it can be the right choice for those who can't get used to putting the money by. It’s a good idea to have several accounts. I consider it to be a fair way to save money for those who need it. May be it can be the right choice for those who can’t get used to putting the money by.

]]> By: Madhvi http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/heres-how-i-set-up-my-financial-accounts/#comment-36552 Madhvi Wed, 10 Oct 2007 20:55:00 +0000 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/heres-how-i-set-up-my-financial-accounts#comment-36552 Wow your account setup is exactly like mine. Or it used to be until recently. I had opened the Wells Fargo college student account which came with a credit card when I started college. After getting a part time job while still in school I opened up the ING savings account and I love their referral program...I've tried to get all my friends to open an account there. A few months ago I found out about the no fee CITI credit card which gives you points for spending money so I looked into their bank accounts as well because I wanted to keep my credit card and checking account with the same institution. To make a long story short, I've shifted from Wells Fargo to Citi bank and you can also get points from using your debit card and online bill pay which is free. They also have a referral program which gets you like 5000 points for getting someone else to sign up for it. Their customer service has also been awesome. Thought you'd like to know :) Wow your account setup is exactly like mine. Or it used to be until recently. I had opened the Wells Fargo college student account which came with a credit card when I started college. After getting a part time job while still in school I opened up the ING savings account and I love their referral program…I’ve tried to get all my friends to open an account there.
A few months ago I found out about the no fee CITI credit card which gives you points for spending money so I looked into their bank accounts as well because I wanted to keep my credit card and checking account with the same institution. To make a long story short, I’ve shifted from Wells Fargo to Citi bank and you can also get points from using your debit card and online bill pay which is free. They also have a referral program which gets you like 5000 points for getting someone else to sign up for it. Their customer service has also been awesome.
Thought you’d like to know :)

]]> By: Matthew T. Christiansen http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/heres-how-i-set-up-my-financial-accounts/#comment-16917 Matthew T. Christiansen Wed, 23 May 2007 21:31:36 +0000 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/heres-how-i-set-up-my-financial-accounts#comment-16917 My financial structure is very similar to that of Ramit Sethi. My primary account is a checking account with Bank of America. I live in New Jersey and work in New York City. I find Bank of America to be the most convenient bank for this area and they do not charge me any fees. I also have an Emigrant Direct Savings account. I used to use ING Direct but their rate is 4.5% while Emigrant Direct offers 5.05 % for what I find to be the exact same service. My third financial account is Charles Schwab. When ever I get paid I always pay all of my bills and then transfer the rest of my money, less spending money, to Emigrant Direct. I maintain a very small balance of a few hundred dollars at Bank of America. Another difference that I have is that I buy all of my stocks at Charles Schwab on margin. The catch is that I never by more stock than I can cover with my savings in Emigrant Direct. As soon as I make a purchase, I transfer my Emigrant Direct savings to Bank of America and then to Charles Schwab. The margin cost generally ends up only costing me a few dollars on a purchase of 8 or 10 thousand dollars. The main thing to understand is that you never want to buy stocks on margin that you cannot cover within a few days because the interest rate of Margin accounts is generally ~10%. My financial structure is very similar to that of Ramit Sethi. My primary account is a checking account with Bank of America. I live in New Jersey and work in New York City. I find Bank of America to be the most convenient bank for this area and they do not charge me any fees. I also have an Emigrant Direct Savings account. I used to use ING Direct but their rate is 4.5% while Emigrant Direct offers 5.05 % for what I find to be the exact same service. My third financial account is Charles Schwab. When ever I get paid I always pay all of my bills and then transfer the rest of my money, less spending money, to Emigrant Direct. I maintain a very small balance of a few hundred dollars at Bank of America. Another difference that I have is that I buy all of my stocks at Charles Schwab on margin. The catch is that I never by more stock than I can cover with my savings in Emigrant Direct. As soon as I make a purchase, I transfer my Emigrant Direct savings to Bank of America and then to Charles Schwab. The margin cost generally ends up only costing me a few dollars on a purchase of 8 or 10 thousand dollars. The main thing to understand is that you never want to buy stocks on margin that you cannot cover within a few days because the interest rate of Margin accounts is generally ~10%.

]]> By: Mark http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/heres-how-i-set-up-my-financial-accounts/#comment-16261 Mark Sun, 20 May 2007 12:54:03 +0000 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/heres-how-i-set-up-my-financial-accounts#comment-16261 You all should check out: www.grandyielddirect.com I use this as my savings account. It pay 5.27% with a $2500 minimum. It takes a few days to get money out, but it's free. You all should check out:

http://www.grandyielddirect.com

I use this as my savings account. It pay 5.27% with a $2500 minimum. It takes a few days to get money out, but it’s free.

]]> By: newbie http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/heres-how-i-set-up-my-financial-accounts/#comment-6028 newbie Sat, 24 Feb 2007 04:52:20 +0000 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/heres-how-i-set-up-my-financial-accounts#comment-6028 Glenn, Why did you pick Scottrade over E*trade, or TD Ameritrade. My company is with Fidelity. I left this company and I am debating about where to rollover my 401K to a Roth IRA. Glenn,

Why did you pick Scottrade over E*trade, or TD Ameritrade. My company is with Fidelity. I left this company and I am debating about where to rollover my 401K to a Roth IRA.

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